Something New
by Cannanan
Summary: They both had skeletons in their closets, literally and figuratively.


- Yet another story I posted on tumblr and neglected to put on here. Umm, this is really more of a drabble in essence, I guess (just a lengthy one). Yunene has the potential to be a really rad pairing (though I don't feel I'm capable of doing it justice).

* * *

_Minene. _Three syllables that roll off the tongue in three simplistic, playful, perfect sounds. Sometimes, she shortens it down to two; in her dulcet, girlish tones, _Nene _or _Mine _has the same effect. Minene's response is ever indignant, yet simultaneously enthralled, because this girl, Yuno, just turned up again and she _barely_ knows her name, but she's sat there every day for the past week singing _hers_ like it's some kind of mantra.

Her sweet voice is compelling and sickening, but it never says anything of interest, so half the time she ignores it entirely. The first time she found her standing at her doorstep had been a bit of a shocker, she'll admit. She had been recovering from a gunshot wound, had only just found a place to rest after her venture the day before, and heaven forbid she hadn't been expecting a cherry-topped school girl to nearly break her door down. Beyond that, though, the girl hasn't done anything threatening. It's been eight days now, and she hasn't ratted her out. She seems content just to hang about her, and, puzzling as it is, Minene has no objections if it means things are going to stay that way.

She's sitting on the kitchen counter. Again. She can't count how many times she's told the brat not to, but she knows there's really no stopping her at this point; as long as she's not breaking anything she's given up caring. Besides, there's a bowl of instant noodles on the table in front of her and that's a lot more interesting, so Minene opts to focus on that for now, however insistent Yuno is in not letting her.

"Minene-chan, do they always let wanted criminals stay here?" She asks, tone innocent and grin anything but.

"You think I fucking tell them I'm a terrorist every time I hand in my rent check?" Minene rolls her eyes, mouth half full of her dinner and making no attempt to execute good table manners. "According to my ID, I'm Akari something-or-other."

"You know how to make a fake ID, Nene?"

"Yeah, and you know how to find the address and birth name of someone _using _a fake ID. Guess we all have our secrets."

Minene's deadpan, but the girl laughs, and she's not too surprised. Yuno's got this way of acting innocent, and maybe she's quick to call it acting, but that's what it is. She's seen her simper and giggle like a child, but she's never seen her without that glint of comprehension in her eyes; she understands what she's saying, what she's doing, and she understands Minene's situation better than the woman understands it herself.

She's a hollow shell of a girl with a heart more plastic than blood, but she can't deny that her mind's in tact, intelligence wise, anyway. A less distrusting person than Minene might be fooled into believing her ignorant, but as a natural born skeptic there's no weight on her conscience when she lets her foul mouth run in front of the kid. If she was half as pure as she makes herself out to be, she'd be shocked instead of just amused when she gets a glimpse of her flowery vocabulary, but she never is. Minene can bet she's heard worse.

"The hell are you staring at?" Yuno's gone quiet, and though she tells herself she doesn't really care, Minene can't help glancing over at her in curiosity.

"Why did you become a terrorist, Minene-chan?" She asks when prompted, hopping down from the counter to sit cross-legged and opposite the criminal on the floor.

"I just woke up one morning and thought 'wow, I really want to kill people for a living'." She snorts, setting the bowl of soup down on the wooden table to fold her arms over her chest.

"You're lying to me, aren't you, Nene?"

"No shit."

The younger girl's brow is knitted into a half-offended half-puzzled look, which forces the elder to stifle a laugh. Looking at her comical expression is a lot easier than thinking about her question, and Minene takes for granted that she has this option.

"Look, kid, it's not a career path you want to consider." It's not one she's ever considered- not really. When she thinks of herself, she doesn't see a terrorist; she never has. At first it was an anger she couldn't satisfy through any other means, and now, though that resentment still rages, it's just as much a force of habit, a hobby, a distraction from that still unresolved conflict. She descended into this lifestyle due to factor beyond her control, her insatiable emotions and her unfortunate childhood, but she can't help thinking that with any urging Yuno would happily leap into this same one.

It's easy not to care about the fates of people she doesn't know, but this girl's a real person in her mind now, and she's only human; she doesn't want anyone to turn out like her.

Yuno, cheerful, impure, childish, cunning, Yuno nods as though she understands, but Minene knows this is one thing she fails to.

"Now get lost."

"But Nene—"

"Beat it."

"Aww, fine."

"_Now._"

"See you tomorrow, Nene!"

She has to slam the door in her face, lest she spend two hours saying goodbye like she had done the day before.

—

Yuno Gasai had never seen anyone run so quickly. She had never seen anyone run with so much determination to escape from her pursuers, even when her pursuers, her earthly ones, at least, had dropped down or out of the chase several blocks back. Her own ankles were starting to hurt from the slight heal of her school shoes (they weren't made to run a mile in), yet the older woman was still going strong, and somehow she couldn't think to stop, given that knowledge.

It had all started with a bang.

She had been sitting in her father's office at the bank, her head lowered in dismay as she thought back to the test grade she had gotten that day, and how he was going to react when he found out. She had been expecting him to yell, and when she heard him raise his voice through the door, she assumed, at first, that it was directed at her. This initial thought dissolved when it occurred to her that she did not have a bomb, a bomb had nothing to do with a failed science test, and her father had no reason to scream the word at her.

She moved immediately to duck under the desk and only emerged again after the shaking subsided, but when she did it was to rush out of the room and into the lobby. It was all smoke and yelling, but somewhere in the center there was a voice ringing loud and clear.

True, she couldn't make out the words, but she knew they held more clarity than any others flying around, and when the dust cleared her eyes were met with the sight of a tall, confident woman clad in black. Her beauty was fleeting, but in a certain light, in that light, it shone in a way that took Yuno aback; even when it faded, the sheer power and authority that marked it remained.

She supposed that was the only reason she has followed her at all, and maybe it wasn't worth her father's scolding at the time, but it was worth it in the end. At least, she thinks it is, because now she knows where this oddly inspiring woman is, and she knows her name. She can't pinpoint why, but she cherishes both pieces of knowledge more than she can say.

There's something in Minene that she admires- or at least, something that intrigues her. She is at once elegant, ruthless, and powerful, and Yuno knows she should be scared of her, but maybe it's that which motivates her not to be. Instead, she challenges her, pushes her to her limits, sometimes makes up questions, not to hear the answer but to hear her voice, and ultimately ends up sitting outside her apartment building after the door's been slammed in her face, because home is the last place she wants to go back to after these excursions.

After a few hours, she _does _go back, but she goes with the woman's name replaying in her mind like a song she can't seem to shake.


End file.
